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Presented by MethaneSAT: | | | | | |  | | By Lorraine Woellert and Catherine Boudreau | Presented by MethaneSAT | | | | | 
J. David Ake/AP Photo | PART 1, DONE — President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan, $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law Monday. The bill — nicknamed BIF by those in the know — includes more than $120 billion to modernize the power grid, build charging infrastructure, improve resiliency and promote technology to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. For a sense of its reach, look at the bill’s cheerleaders: Farmers, automakers, builders, the Sierra Club, unions, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, ESG investors, cities, counties and states, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. NOW, PART 2 — The infrastructure act’s climate spending is dwarfed by measures in Democrats' budget reconciliation bill , which includes Biden’s Build Back Better, or BBB, agenda. The stalled spending plan would direct a record $555 billion into climate efforts, or six times the provisions in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which sparked a decade of growth in renewables. On their own, BIF and BBB won't get the U.S. to its emission goals. But combined, they could result in an additional 107 million metric tons of reductions, according to Princeton University. "These two bills are part of a tandem," Energy Department chief of staff Tarak Shah told reporters last week. "They're yin and yang, and we need them both."
| | | | A message from MethaneSAT: Cutting methane is the fastest way to slow global warming. It’s why the US joined over 100 countries in pledging a 30% reduction in methane emissions by 2030, and it’s why we’re launching the most advanced methane-tracking satellite: MethaneSAT. Learn how MethaneSAT can help avert the climate crisis at MethaneSAT.org. | | | | | | | A message from MethaneSAT:   | | | THE CLIFFS NOTES Clean energy: The reconciliation package (BBB) includes $320 billion in clean energy tax breaks, adding incentives for domestic manufacturing, clean fuels, nuclear power, hydrogen and more. Methane: Companies would have to pay $900 per ton of methane they emit starting in 2023 under BBB, a fee that would rise to $1,500 by 2025. Electric vehicles: The bill signed Monday (BIF) would provide $7.5 billion for EV infrastructure. Democrats want billions of dollars more in BBB for plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Their spending plan would electrify the U.S. Postal Service fleet and give EV buyers up to $12,500 in tax credits. The grid: BIF includes $2.5 billion to build and upgrade transmission lines, $3 billion for electric grid flexibility, and $11 billion for resiliency. BBB could add tax credits and incentives and $800 million to speed siting of new interstate lines. Nuclear: BIF has $6 billion to help financially struggling nuclear plants stay online. Democrats want more spending in BBB to encourage zero-emission nuclear power. Greenhouse gases: Nearly $30 billion in BBB would go toward low- and zero-emission technology, with 40 percent of the benefits accruing to low-income and disadvantaged communities, delivering on a Biden environmental justice promise. Natural sinks: BIF has $5.75 billion for wildfire management and restoration and will help the U.S. Forest Service plant 1.2 billion trees. BBB would funnel another $27 billion to forestry. Heavy industry: BIF funds research on carbon capture and direct air capture and money for carbon transport and storage. BBB would increase tax credits to companies that deploy carbon capture and appropriate $4 billion for advanced industrial technology. Hydrogen: BIF allots $8 billion for clean hydrogen demonstration projects. BBB has tax credits for clean hydrogen production.
| | | A LIFT FOR BLUE BINS — The EPA on Monday released a national recycling strategy that frames America’s trash problem as a climate and environmental justice issue. Extracting natural resources for all the things we consume accounts for half of global greenhouse gas emissions. In the U.S., low-income communities and people of color are disproportionately exposed to pollution from the landfills and incinerators where trash ends up. EPA has limited power over the waste stream , which is managed by a patchwork of state and local programs, so it remains to be seen how the agency can boost the recycling rate from 32 percent to 50 percent by the end of the decade. Expect some bully pulpit prodding and education campaigns. “Even with an administration that is prioritizing recycling, there is only so much they can do without congressional action,” Dylan de Thomas, vice president of external affairs at the Recycling Partnership, said. “EPA would need drastically different authority than it has now." Biden’s infrastructure law won’t have a big impact. It authorizes some $275 million for upgrades and $75 million to educate consumers about what can and can’t go in the blue bin. That’s a drop in the bucket of the estimated $17 billion needed to upgrade recycling facilities. CRITICAL MINERAL DEADLINE — The U.S. Geological Survey wants to add nickel and zinc to its list of critical minerals. By law, a “critical mineral” is a non-fuel mineral or mineral essential to economic or national security or, importantly, the supply chain. Submit your two cents.
| | | We finally understand the grid. Thanks, John Oliver. (And h/t Frank Maisano.) What will it take to go from climate pledges to action? POLITICO’s inaugural sustainability summit is happening as we speak. Watch live. Send your deep thoughts to cboudreau@politico.com and lwoellert@politico.com. Follow us on Twitter @ceboudreau and @Woellert. FOMO? Sign up for The Long Game . We couldn’t have done it this week without Kelsey Tamborrino, Matthew Choi, Karl Mathiesen, Esther Webber and Shayna Greene.
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1.5 degrees remains elusive. | Dominika Zarzycka/NurPhoto via AP | It’s over. Here’s where we ended up.
WINNERS China and India. They threatened to walk if they didn’t get a “phase down ” instead of a “phase out” of coal. Rich countries. After breaking a promise to deliver $100 billion a year to developing countries by 2020, they moved the goal post to 2024. Carbon offsets. Negotiators agreed to rules for carbon credit trading. Some climate activists worry that the system will give cover to greenwashing. LOSERS At-risk nations. The final deal isn’t enough to protect small island states. “It will be too late for the Maldives,” environment minister Aminath Shauna said. Laggards. Countries will be forced to disclose detailed information about their greenhouse gas emissions starting in 2024. Alok Sharma. After all his hard work, no-drama Sharma was denied a jubilant ending by China and India. The COP president choked back tears, but on the train home, fellow passengers greeted him like a rock star. Earth. If all the Glasgow promises come to fruition, the world will be on track for 1.8 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the century, the International Energy Agency said. Book your rooms now: Countries are expected to arrive at COP27 in Egypt next November with more ambitious plans. What’s next? Georgetown University and the SETI Institute will put Earth’s environmental woes in a cosmic context. The webcast is free.
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| | | | Royal Dutch Shell will move its headquarters from The Hague to London, change its name, and simplify its structure as it moves toward becoming a net-zero energy business. Investor Third Point LLC had called for the breakup of the company to improve its environmental and financial performance. In May, a court in The Hague ordered Shell to cut emissions by 2030 to align with the Paris Climate Agreement. Shell said it would appeal.
| | | | A message from MethaneSAT: Methane has over 80x the warming power of carbon, it’s leaking into the atmosphere across the globe, and it’s been practically invisible—until now. Next year, we’re launching MethaneSAT into space, the most advanced methane-tracking satellite ever built. With MethaneSAT in orbit, we’ll be able to find and measure methane emissions virtually anywhere on earth while providing real-time data so policymakers and industry leaders can plug leaks fast. It’s a game-changing tool that will help the US and more than 100 other countries meet their pledge to cut methane emissions and slow global warming now. Learn More. | | | | | | — Tool-maker Stanley Black & Decker stockpiled an extra $1 billion in products. Colgate Palmolive used costly air freight to ship more of its toothpaste and toothbrushes. Walmart chartered its own ships to circumvent backlogs. The Washington Post explores how companies are overhauling their supply chains amid global shipping disruptions. — Mapping public lands. The Climate Atlas , a new tool developed by the Conservation Lands Foundation and Conservation Science Partners, shows the best options for storing carbon, preventing species loss and protecting biodiversity within the 441 million acres managed by the federal government. The tool could help Biden’s 30x30 campaign to protect 30 percent of U.S. land and water by 2030, the groups said.
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